In the early morning of January 14th, Beijing time, the 21st round of the Premier League staged a focus battle. The defending champion Manchester City challenged the Magpies Newcastle away. After falling behind 1-2, De Bruyne came off the bench to perform 1 shot and 1 pass, leading Manchester City to a final 3-2 victory, fully demonstrating his superstar style.
Before this campaign, Guardiola confirmed that Norwegian center Haaland will continue to be absent. De Bruyne is in good physical condition but is only on standby. In the first 8 minutes, Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson was replaced due to injury. In the 26th minute, Bernardo Silva cleverly scored with a back heel to help the team lead 1-0 away from home. But then Newcastle launched a counterattack. Isaac and Gordon knocked on Manchester City's goal with almost identical shots within 2 minutes, helping the home team lead 2-1 in the first half.
In the second half, Manchester City launched a massive attack. Alvarez's free kick and Foden's long shot both hit the target. In the 69th minute, Guardiola made a substitution adjustment, and De Bruyne replaced the goal hero Bernardo Silva. Just 5 minutes later, De Bruyne knocked off Dubravka's fingers with a low shot from outside the penalty area, and Manchester City tied the score at 2-2. In the first minute of stoppage time, De Bruyne took the ball in the frontcourt and sent a precise overhead long pass. The 20-year-old Bob, who replaced Doku, showed off fried balls in the penalty area. He stopped and passed. He opened the defense and faced the attacking Dubravka and calmly pushed the shot to complete the winning goal. 3-2, Manchester City finally reversed and won away from home.
In this campaign, Manchester City occupied 73% of the ball possession, taking 27 shots, 11 of which were on target, and scoring 3 goals, while Newcastle, playing at home, had 12 shots, 5 of which were on target, and scored 2 goals. However, although their goal efficiency is higher than that of Manchester City, De Bruyne's efforts to turn the tide have forced the Magpies to suffer at home. In this game, De Bruyne played 21 minutes, scored 1 goal with 2 shots and 1 goal, and provided a winning assist to the young player Bob at the last moment. In addition, he also made 3 key passes and 2 aerial challenges, and scored a game-high 8.7 points after the game.
returned from 2 games and scored 1 goal, 2 assists and 3 goals. The 32-year-old De Bruyne proved that he is still an indispensable god for Manchester City. His god-like passing is unsurpassed by anyone in world football at least at this stage. If midfielder Rodri ensures Manchester City's lower limit, De Bruyne is the one who infinitely raises Manchester City's upper limit. In this sense, the victory in this game is not that Guardiola replaced God, but that he replaced God.
